A.P Equine & Canine offers both combined and standalone McTimoney and massage treatment programs for horses and dogs. About the Practitioner...
A.P Equine & Canine is founded by Amanda Purchas who is the sole practitioner within the business. Amanda is a fully insured McTimoney Animal Practitioner and Massage Therapist who has a first class honours degree in Equine Sports Science, a MSc in Animal
Manipulation and is qualified in Merisha Animal Massage Therapy. In addition to the above Amanda is active in equine performance research and previously presented her findings at the Alltech conference (2013). Amanda is currently interested in equine biomechanics, rider asymmetry and pressure algometry and hopes to conduct further research into these topic areas. What is a McTimoney Practitioner? A McTimoney Practitioner is an individual who has completed a MSc in Animal Manipulation at the McTimoney Collage of Chiropractic. A McTimoney Practitioner works to restore neuromuscular function that has become impaired through the resultant muscle spasm and pressure of skeletal miss-alignments. A miss-alignment is when a vertebra/bone is no longer aligned with its neighbouring bones and has become "stuck" within its normal range of movement. When this happens tightening of the surrounding musculature or direct pressure caused by the miss-alignment, impairs the function of the nerves inserting and exiting the spinal cord. In such event pain, discomfort and compensatory movement patterns occur. McTimoney Practitioners aim to restore symmetry in the animal’s musculoskeletal system through the correction and rehabilitation of miss-alignments. The manipulation of miss-alignment carried out by the practitioner is achieved using only their hands. Once they have identified the miss-alignment, a high speed directional thrust is applied to the bone/vertebrae. As McTimoney animal treatments utilise speed in the adjustment animals experience minimal pain and discomfort throughout the process, this meaning that treatments can be conducted without sedation and are often happily accepted by the animal. What are the signs and causes of miss-alignments? Causes of miss-alignments can fall into two categories, acute and chronic. Acute causes tend to be short term and are often the result of some level of recent trauma i.e falling, tendon injury, rolling ect. The effect of acute causes are often short lived but if left untouched could result in them developing into a chronic problem particularly, if a compensatory movement pattern is adapted in the recovery. Chronic causes are often long term and are usually related to a previous condition or an underlying predisposition i.e OA of the hock, hip dysplasia or poor conformation. Because of this chronic issues usually require a long term treatment plan to help the issue at hand and maintain the benefits of the treatment thereafter. A few common signs of miss-alignments:
- Change in behaviour
- Loss of performance i.e struggling to strike off on the correct lead.
- Cold backed
- Struggling to bend
- Refusing to jump
- Reluctance to work
The above are just a few examples of miss-alignments symptoms however; all animals are individual and may display their own indicators of discomfort. Vet Consent:
Under the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 an owner must consult their veterinary surgeon and gain their permission before a McTimoney Practitioner can proceed, as without this consent it is illegal for the practitioner to treat the animal. However, most veterinary surgeons understand the benefits and place of McTimoney treatments in maintaining and improving an animal’s wellbeing and will readily give their permission for treatment. What to expect when booking a treatment with A.P Equine and Canine? Amanda will first conduct a thorough history that will include gathering details of the animal’s medical history, performance and lifestyle. Within this record taking you will be required to sign that vet consent has been gained for the animal under treatment. Once all details have been gathered a static and dynamic assessment of your animal will be conducted, this will include a conformational assessment, trot up, circling and stepping back. Additional tests may be carried out to gather further information if necessary. When conducting these assessments Amanda will be looking for areas of predisposition to injury or strain, establishing if the animal is lame and identifying any movement or postural patterns that could suggest underlying miss-alignments or musculoskeletal issues. By gathering all this information a full picture of the animal’s musculoskeletal health can be made and Amanda can establish if the treatment will targeting primary or secondary issues. After completion of the above Amanda will then palpate for miss-alignment and muscle spasm, once identified Amanda will use either McTimoney or myofascial release techniques to kick start the healing process. Once the treatment is completed a full report of the treatment will be provided for the owner. Amanda will then discuss an appropriate treatment plan for the animal and provide after care advice aimed at optimising and maintaining the animal’s musculoskeletal health. Follow up treatments:
Follow-up treatments are scheduled and tailored to each animal however; it is likely that at least one follow-up treatment may be required to optimise the animal’s healing response. Should I expect any side effects and how long until I see the benefits? McTimoney is a holistic approach meaning that it considers the entire body rather than focusing on one area. It also utilises the body’s own innate intelligence to heal rather than forcing a change to happen that the body may not be ready to accept. Because of this the benefits of the treatment may not be seen for upto 2 weeks as it has to rely on the individuals own healing response time. However, benefits can often been seen immediately or a few days after treatment, although this depends on the severity of the issue in the first place and whether further treatments are necessary. As mentioned with McTimoney using the body’s own healing response some side effects to the treatment can occur, this is usually the result of the body having to re-program its self to correct compensatory movement patterns and utilise potentially weakened musculature. This means that some animals may be stiff, sore or not their self for a short period after treatment. It is for this reason that a rest period will be recommended after a treatment followed by a gradual return to work. However, this response is perfectly normal and is in fact part of the healing response! How to book a treatment:
You can either contact Amanda either by phone, email or facebook, texts are welcome. Amanda will endeavour to get back to you within 24hours. Email: [email protected]
No: 07824306297
Amanda will be covering all areas within the three counties (Gloucestershire, Worcestershire & Herefordshire) however, clients further afield are welcome. If you have any more questions please do not hesitate to contact me. Prices:
Please contact Amanda for treatment prices. Logo images courtesy of Flaticon from Freepik
